"British journalist George Campey in the London ""Evening Standard"" in 1951. The first contest was held in the town of Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956. Seven countries participated—each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in which more than one song per country was performed: since 1957, all contests have allowed one entry per country. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland. The programme was first known as the ""Eurovision Grand Prix"" (in English). This ""Grand Prix"" name was adopted by Germany, Denmark, Norway and the Francophone countries, with the"
"These include: The Eurovision Song Contest () is an annual international song competition, that was first held in Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956. Seven countries participated – each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in which more than one song per country was performed: since 1957 all contests have allowed one entry per country. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland. In this competition, only countries that are members of the EBU can participate. The first winner was Switzerland, and the most recent is Israel with a new voting"
"Eurovision Song Contest 1957 The Eurovision Song Contest 1957 was the second edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on Sunday 3 March 1957 in Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany. It was won by the Netherlands with ""Net als toen"", performed by Corry Brokken. Like the first 1956 edition, this one was still mainly a radio programme, but there was a noticeable increase in the number of people with televisions. For some time, a rumour had existed that the privilege of hosting the 1957 contest was given to Germany because they had come in second place in 1956 with"
"the table below. Eurovision Song Contest 1957 The Eurovision Song Contest 1957 was the second edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on Sunday 3 March 1957 in Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany. It was won by the Netherlands with ""Net als toen"", performed by Corry Brokken. Like the first 1956 edition, this one was still mainly a radio programme, but there was a noticeable increase in the number of people with televisions. For some time, a rumour had existed that the privilege of hosting the 1957 contest was given to Germany because they had come in second place"
"History of the Eurovision Song Contest The history of the Eurovision Song Contest began with an idea of Sergio Pugliese, of the Italian television RAI, and then approved by Marcel Bezençon of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The contest was based on the Italian Sanremo Music Festival and was designed to test the limits of live television broadcast technology. The first contest took place on 24 May 1956, where seven nations participated. As the Contest progressed, the rules grew increasingly complex and participation levels rose to pass forty nations at the end of the 20th century. As more countries came"
"was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country. Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language. Details of the commentators and the broadcasting station for which they represented are also included in the table below. Eurovision Song Contest 1958 The Eurovision Song Contest 1958 was the third Eurovision Song Contest. The contest took place in Hilversum, Netherlands, following the country's win at the 1957 Contest, forming the convention that the winning country of the previous Eurovision Song Contest hosts the following year's contest."
"Eurovision Song Contest 1958 The Eurovision Song Contest 1958 was the third Eurovision Song Contest. The contest took place in Hilversum, Netherlands, following the country's win at the 1957 Contest, forming the convention that the winning country of the previous Eurovision Song Contest hosts the following year's contest. The event was held on Wednesday 12 March 1958 at AVRO Studios. The winner was France with the song ""Dors, mon amour"", performed by André Claveau, written by Pierre Delanoë and composed by Hubert Giraud. At 46 years and 76 days of age, Claveau became the oldest victor of the contest until"
"are also included in the table below. Eurovision Song Contest 1959 The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on Wednesday 11 March 1959 in Cannes, France, following the country's victory at the 1958 edition. The contest was won by the Netherlands with the song """"Een beetje"""", performed by Teddy Scholten. This was the second win for the Netherlands. Willy van Hemert was also the lyricist of """"Net als toen"""", which won the 1957 contest. The event took place in Cannes, France, with the venue being the original building of"
"Eurovision Song Contest held in Stockholm. The concert was recorded live on 31 March 2015 at the Eventim Apollo, London; allowing participating broadcasters the freedom to air the programme on a date and channel that was convenient for their broadcasting schedules. Fifteen artists, representing thirteen countries, consisting of some of Eurovision's Greatest Hits, took part in the sixtieth anniversary gala event. The first-ever winner of the contest (in 1956), Lys Assia, appeared in the audience as a guest of honour. During the broadcast, video montages were shown prior to each entry, showing footage for that particular year's contest, ending with"
"contest with over 16 countries participating with a total of 18 entries. The Swedish entry was also sung in English. For the first time since Dutch victory 'Een Beetje' in 1959, the winning song was not a ballad. The contest took place in Naples, the capital of region Campania in southern Italy and the third-largest city in Italy, after Rome and Milan. This is Italy's first hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest. The host venue was the then new Sala di Concerto della RAI (""RAI Production Centre of Naples""), founded few years prior to the contest, in the late fifties"
"Eurovision Song Contest 1959 The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on Wednesday 11 March 1959 in Cannes, France, following the country's victory at the 1958 edition. The contest was won by the Netherlands with the song """"Een beetje"""", performed by Teddy Scholten. This was the second win for the Netherlands. Willy van Hemert was also the lyricist of """"Net als toen"""", which won the 1957 contest. The event took place in Cannes, France, with the venue being the original building of Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, after"
"Eurovision Song Contest 1963 The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the eighth annual Eurovision Song Contest. The contest was held in London, United Kingdom, after the British broadcaster BBC stepped in to organise the event. France had won the 1962 edition with the right to host this following one but were unable to, due to financial shortcomings. The contest was won by Denmark with the song ""Dansevise"", performed by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann. Denmark's win was their first. Four countries got nul points, with Finland, Norway and Sweden failing to score any points for the first time and The Netherlands"
"in Italy and was seen as a technological experiment in live television. In those days it was a very ambitious project to join many countries together in a wide-area international network. Satellite television did not exist and the Eurovision Network comprised a terrestrial microwave network. The concept, then known as ""Eurovision Grand Prix"", was approved by the EBU General Assembly in a meeting held in Rome on 19 October 1955, and it was decided that the first contest would take place in spring 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland. The name ""Eurovision"" was first used in relation to the EBU's network by"
"reached to hold the first ever contest the following year in Lugano, in the Italian cultural region of Switzerland. Lugano is a city in southern Switzerland, located in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino. The 9th largest Swiss city, it is the largest in Ticino and largest with an Italian speaking majority outside Italy. The city lies on Lake Lugano, surrounded by the mountains of the Lugano Prealps. The inaugural Eurovision Song Contest took place at the Teatro Kursaal, a casino and former theatre, on 24 May 1956. The theatre, designed by Italian architect Achille Sfondrini, was used for theatrical"
"Eurovision Song Contest 1960 The Eurovision Song Contest 1960 was the fifth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on Tuesday 29 March 1960 in London. Although the Netherlands had won the contest in 1959, the Netherlands Television Foundation declined to host another contest so soon after staging the event in 1958. The honour of hosting the contest therefore passed to the United Kingdom, which had come second in 1959. Therefore, the BBC chose Catherine Boyle (as she was then known) to be the mistress of ceremonies at the contest for the first time. France's win this year"
"was their second in the contest. The contest was won by France with the song """"Tom Pillibi"""", performed by Jacqueline Boyer, who at 18 years and 341 days of age, became the first teenager and the youngest artist yet to win the contest. As of August 2018, this is the earliest Eurovision Song Contest where the winning performer is still living. The 1960 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in London. This is the first edition held in the host country's capital city. The Royal Festival Hall, the venue for the 1960 contest, is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue"
"""Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück"" by Walter Andreas Schwarz. In fact, not only were the official 1956 scores withheld, but the rule stating that the winning nation hosts the next year's Eurovision Song Contest had not yet been conceived. It was planned at the time that each participating country would take it in turns to host the event. However, as more countries wished to participate, this became impractical. The contest took place in Frankfurt am Main (or simply Frankfurt), one of the largest cities in, at the time West Germany. The host venue was the Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks,"
"in which votes were cast during the 1960 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country. Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language. Details of the commentators and the broadcasting station for which they represented are also included in the table below. Eurovision Song Contest 1960 The Eurovision Song Contest 1960 was the fifth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on Tuesday 29 March 1960 in London. Although the Netherlands had won the"
"on music charts in Norway, and in other Nordic countries, with the 2008 winner topping the Norwegian charts. The Eurovision Song Contest began on 24 May 1956, when the ""Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne"" was held in Lugano, Switzerland. Norway's first contest was the fourth, the 1960 Contest. The first Melodi Grand Prix was held on 20 February at the NRK Television Centre in Oslo. Ten songs competed in the radio semi-final, held on 2 February, where the top 5 songs would progress to the televised contest. However this number was increased to 6 after three songs tied"
"the table below. Eurovision Song Contest 1964 The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the ninth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, after the country's victory in the 1963 edition. Italy won the contest for the first time scoring 49 points with the song ""Non ho l'età"", performed by Gigliola Cinquetti, who at 16 years and 92 days of age, became the youngest winner of the contest yet; a record she held until 1986. The host venue for the contest was Tivolis Koncertsal (Tivoli Concert Hall) in Denmark's capital city Copenhagen,"
"Eurovision Song Contest 1966 The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 5 March 1966 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg, following the country's win at the previous 1965 edition. The host venue was Grand Auditorium de RTL in Villa Louvigny. The presenter was Josiane Chen. The winner was Austria with the song ""Merci, Chérie"" performed and composed by Udo Jürgens, and written by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger. This would remain Austria's only win in the contest until their second win in 2014. The rule stating that a country could only sing"
"Lys Assia Lys Assia (born Rosa Mina Schärer; 3 March 1924 – 24 March 2018) was a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Assia was born in Rupperswil, Aargau, and began her stage career as a dancer, but changed to singing in 1940, after successfully standing in for a female singer. In 1956 she was the winner of the first Eurovision Song Contest, in which she sang for Switzerland. She had also been in the German national final of that year and returned to the contest again for Switzerland in 1957 and 1958. Her Eurovision"
"France got the right to host this edition of the Eurovision Song Contest for winning its previous 1958 edition with the song ""Dors, mon amour"" performed by André Claveau. Cannes, a city located on the French Riviera, is a busy tourist destination and known worldwide for hosting the annual Cannes Film Festival, with the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès also hosting the Film Festival. The original building was built in 1949 and was located on the boulevard of Promenade de la Croisette, on the present site of the JW Marriott Cannes. A new rule was created for this Eurovision,"
"Ring"" (A Little Golden Ring) in the national final. However, this turned out to be incorrect, as she remembered only that she took part with a song of that title in a German music festival - it turned out that she competed with this song in the German Schlager Festival of 1961. Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 Germany was one of seven countries to enter the Eurovision Song Contest 1956, the first Eurovision Song Contest to be held. The German broadcaster ARD held a national final to select two entries to represent the country: Walter Andreas Schwarz with"
"clearest victory ever in this voting system as they got 31% of all votes and 34.4% of the votes possible to be received (as no country can vote for itself). Furthermore, in the voting system of that year, it would be the only entry ever to receive points from every other country and one of only two to lead on the scoreboard from the first until the last vote. The Netherlands would be the only country to win the contest on its second attempt until Ukraine did so in 2004. Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957 The Netherlands were"
"Eurovision Song Contest 1964 The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the ninth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, after the country's victory in the 1963 edition. Italy won the contest for the first time scoring 49 points with the song ""Non ho l'età"", performed by Gigliola Cinquetti, who at 16 years and 92 days of age, became the youngest winner of the contest yet; a record she held until 1986. The host venue for the contest was Tivolis Koncertsal (Tivoli Concert Hall) in Denmark's capital city Copenhagen, which lies within"
"Eurovision Song Contest 1962 The Eurovision Song Contest 1962 was the seventh edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on Sunday 18 March 1962 at the Villa Louvigny in Luxembourg. The contest was won for a third time by France with the song """"Un premier amour"""", performed by Isabelle Aubret. This marked the first time a country had won three contests. Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, and Spain all scored ""nul points"" for the first time. The 1962 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in Luxembourg City. The venue chosen to host the 1962 contest was the Villa Louvigny. The building served"
"Eurovision (network) Eurovision, founded 1954 in Geneva, Switzerland, is a television network that is part of the European Broadcasting Union. Eurovision was set up for the purpose of exchanging TV programmes and, subsequently, TV news footage (via the daily Eurovision news exchange - EVN). The first official Eurovision transmission took place on 6 June 1954. It showed the Narcissus Festival in Montreux, Switzerland. It has a radio counterpart in Euroradio. The name ""Eurovision"" was originally coined by British journalist George Campey when writing for the ""Evening Standard"", and was adopted by the EBU for its network. Eurovision is managed by"
"for the international Eurovision Song Contest. The contest started, in its first edition, on December 21, 1962 and was held at the Academy of Arts in Tirana, Albania. 20 songs competed in its semifinal round, but only 12 made it through to the final. The first winner of Festivali i Këngës was the legendary Vaçe Zela with her famous song ""Fëmija i parë"" (""The first child""). The festivals' music was, under communism, strictly centered around light music. It developed over time, starting with neutrally themed entries to becoming a tool for the governing Communist Party of Albania in promoting its"
"Eurovision Song Contest 1965 The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was the tenth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Naples, Italy, following the Italian victory at the previous 1964 edition. Luxembourg won, for the second time in the history of the contest, with the song ""Poupée de cire, poupée de son"", performed by France Gall and composed by Serge Gainsbourg. Belgium, Finland, Germany, and Spain each scored ""null points"" for the second time. The 1965 contest marked the debut of Ireland, a country which later went on to dominate the competition. This was also the first"
"1958, was not selected through Melodifestivalen, having been selected internally by the Swedish broadcaster at the time, Swedish Radio Service. In 2005 to celebrate 50 years of the Eurovision Song Contest, Denmark hosted a special one-off contest on behalf of the EBU to find Europe's favourite Eurovision song of the first 50 years. Tipped as the favourite from the start, ABBA won the contest by a landslide with ""Waterloo"" coming first in the semi-final with a record 331 points and then going on to win the contest with 329 points in the final. Alongside other Eurovision stars, Carola Häggkvist and"
"Details of the commentators and the broadcasting station for which they represented are also included in the table below. Eurovision Song Contest 1966 The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 5 March 1966 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg, following the country's win at the previous 1965 edition. The host venue was Grand Auditorium de RTL in Villa Louvigny. The presenter was Josiane Chen. The winner was Austria with the song ""Merci, Chérie"" performed and composed by Udo Jürgens, and written by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger. This would remain Austria's only"
"from Austria and the United Kingdom) announced their votes in French. Eurovision Song Contest 1961 The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the sixth Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 18 March 1961 and was the first to take place on a Saturday night, a tradition that has continued into modern times. It was hosted in the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès located in Cannes, France, where it had been staged two years previously. Luxembourg won for its first time with the song """"Nous les amoureux"""" performed in French by Jean-Claude Pascal. As the contest overran its allocated time,"